Tuesday, 22 October 2013

Yay !!! Over 100 buildings demolished for Ogun road projects

According to Punch No
fewer than 100 buildings were demolished on Monday and countless persons
displaced when the Ogun State Government embarked on its road expansion
project.

The demolition, which began around 9am,
affected structures on both sides of the Ojodu/Alagbole road at Yakoyo
and the Sango/Ijoko road all the way down to Ogba-Ayo.

Shops, residential buildings and
shanties were lost to the demolition which was carried out to clear
structures within 22.7 metres from the road. It was said to have lasted
well over six hours.

At Ogba-Ayo along Ijoko road, a shopping
complex housing over 70 shops, two petrol stations and scores of
residential buildings were destroyed. As of 4pm, Sango residents, whose
buildings had also been marked for demolition, were seen hurriedly
moving their valuables in preparation for the demolition that would
continue on Tuesday (today).

Some landlords and few of the residents at Yakoyo, who spoke with PUNCH Metro, lamented the demolition of their buildings without adequate notice to prepare them for the exercise.

They alleged that the Governor Ibikunle
Amosun administration did not compensate them or map out a resettlement
plan for the people affected by the demolition.

The owner of a two-storey building at
Yakoyo, Mr. Nuhu Aruwa, said he built his house with the money he had
saved from 35 years service as an officer of the Nigeria Customs
Service.

He said, “I have been living here for
the past 26 years. I am a retiree and I manage a paint manufacturing
company here. Early last year, the Bureau of Land and Survey came and
marked our houses, saying it wanted to expand the road and that people
should file their claims for compensation.

“We told them to let us know how they intend to compensate us. At least, my present house is worth N50m.

“Later in September this year, the
ministry officials said we should await letters of acquisition and after
we agreed on the value of our houses, we could move out.

“They said they would pay us first before we would move out.”

Aruwa, who hails from Kogi State, said
he was awaiting the letter when he was told that his house would be
demolished on Monday morning.

He said, “No kobo has been paid, no
alternative has been provided and they now say I should move out. Move
to where? Are we goats? We have children schooling here. Do we terminate
their academic programmes? I have served this nation for more than 35
years. I am now retired, and they want to take all I have built in my
whole life away from me.”

Another landlord, Mr. Moshood Yusuf,
said he built his house in 1986 and caters for his15 member family with
the money he makes from rents.

He said the state governor disappointed
residents when he visited the area a day to the demolition, without
interacting with the landlords to know how they felt.

He said, “The permanent secretary and
governor came here yesterday (Sunday). Amosun merely walked with his
entourage from Alagbole to Yakoyo Bus-stop without talking to anybody.
And all he said was that work would start today and left.”

It was learnt that many of the landlords were confused because their buildings had been marked three different times.

A source said the state government had
said initially, that it would only clear structures within 5.2 metres
distance from the road. This was later increased to 13 metres and then
22.7 metres.

Many residents were caught unawares by
the demolition and appealed for time to evacuate their property. Others
protested the demolition and were seen making frantic calls to officials
of the state government.

PUNCH Metro observed that some residents were not at home when the caterpillar began pulling down some structures.

Around 9.30am, an officer from the Bureau of Lands addressed a group of landlords.

The unidentified officer said, “All I
will advise you is that you should take the pictures of your property
and take to the Bureau of Lands for documentation. The issue of forms
and letters do not concern the governor. Once he comes and gives orders
that work should begin, we must begin to work. If there is any report
that nothing has been done, they could send in policemen and I don’t
want that here. Just get evidence that you are the owner of the house.”

As the demolition continued, some of the residents wept.

A resident, Rukayat Moshood, said, “We
didn’t know it would happen like this. It was too sudden. At first, we
were told it would only affect the shops and a little part of the
building. Then the governor came yesterday and said work would begin. We
don’t know where we are packing to now; we have no idea.”

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry
of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake, told our correspondent on
the telephone that the residents were opposed to change in the state.

He said, “They were served two years ago
and even in the last three months, we still reminded them. But you know
that even if you give some people 1,000 years, they will still continue
to be there. When development is about to take place, there will be
resistance, so we are not surprised.

“No responsible government will however
continue to watch a road that has been degraded for over 30 years
without doing something about it.

“Some of these people don’t even have
proper documentation for their houses, and yet the government is ready
to compensate them for their losses.”